HK brothers plead not guilty to Transformers director extortion

Movie director Michael Bay speaks at the Samsung press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center for the 2014 International CES, on Jan 6, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Two brothers charged with trying to extort nearly S$16,500 from Hollywood director Michael Bay while he was shooting the latest Transformers film in Hong Kong have pleaded not guilty, local media reported on Tuesday. -- FILE PHOTO: AFP

HONG KONG (AFP) - Two brothers charged with trying to extort nearly S$16,500 from Hollywood director Michael Bay while he was shooting the latest Transformers film in Hong Kong have pleaded not guilty, local media reported on Tuesday.

Mr Bay was attacked by a man wielding an air conditioning unit and demanding HK$100,000 (S$16,455) compensation for filming in the city's Quarry Bay district on the first day of location shooting in October.

Brothers Mak Chi-shing, 27, and Mak Chi-hang, 28, who operate a shop selling air-conditioners, each pleaded not guilty to charges of blackmail and assaulting a police officer at the district court on Tuesday, the South China Morning Post reported.